Billy Bragg biography
Bragg was also very active in his hometown of Barking as part of Searchlight's magazine's Hope not Hate campaign, where the BNP's leader Nick Griffin was standing for election. At one point during the campaign Bragg squared up to BNP London Assembly Member Richard Barnbrook, calling him a "Fascist racist" and saying "when you're gone from this borough, we will rebuild this community". The BNP came third on election day.
Bragg is a board director and key spokesman for the Featured Artists Coalition, a body representing the rights of recording artists. Bragg founded the organisation Jail Guitar Doors, which supplies instruments to prisoners to encourage them to address problems in a non-confrontational way.
Bragg is a regular at the Tolpuddle Martyrs' Festival, an annual event celebrating the memory of those transported to Australia for founding a union in the 1830s.
In January 2011, news sources reported that 20 to 30 residents of Bragg's Dorset hometown, Burton Bradstock, had received anonymous letters viciously attacking Bragg and his politics, and urging residents to oppose him in the village. Bragg claimed that a BNP supporter was behind the letters, which argued that Bragg is a hypocrite for advocating socialism while living a wealthy lifestyle, and referred to him as anti-British and pro-immigration.
In July 2011 Billy joined the growing protests over the News of the World phone hacking affair with the recording of "Never Buy the Sun" which references many of the scandals key points including the Milly Dowler case, police bribes and associated political fallout. It also draws on the 22 year Liverpool boycott of The Sun for their coverage of the Hillsborough Disaster.
In 2011 Bragg joined the Occupy Movement Protests.
Billy lives in Burton Bradstock, Dorset with his wife Juliet and son Jack.
- Life's a Riot with Spy Vs Spy (1983)
- Brewing Up with Billy Bragg (1984)
- Talking with the Taxman about Poetry (1986)
- Back to Basics (1987)
- Workers Playtime (1988)
- The Internationale (1990)
- Don't Try This at Home (1991)
- William Bloke (1996)
- Bloke on Bloke (1997)
- Mermaid Avenue (1998) (with Wilco)
- Mermaid Avenue Vol. II (2000) (with Wilco)
- England, Half-English (2002) (with the Blokes)
- Mr Love & Justice (2008)
- Fight Songs (2011)
Further reading
- Billy Bragg, The Progressive Patriot: A Search for Belonging (London: Bantam Press, 2006) ISBN 978-0-593-05343-0
- Billy Bragg, How we all lost when Thatcher won - Thatcher's victory over the miners led directly to this economic crisis. The Guardian, 5 March 2009
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